But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died. – Judges 4:21

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 29, 2019): Judges 4

I love fantasy author C. E. Murphy’s description of the difference in hospitality in Ireland than in the United States.

“In Ireland, you go to someone's house, and she asks you if you want a cup of tea. You say no, thank you, you're really just fine. She asks if you're sure. You say of course you're sure, really, you don't need a thing. Except they pronounce it ting. You don't need a ting. Well, she says then, I was going to get myself some anyway, so it would be no trouble. Ah, you say, well, if you were going to get yourself some, I wouldn't mind a spot of tea, at that, so long as it's no trouble and I can give you a hand in the kitchen. Then you go through the whole thing all over again until you both end up in the kitchen drinking tea and chatting.

In America, someone asks you if you want a cup of tea, you say no, and then you don't get any damned tea.

I liked the Irish way better.”

The idea of hospitality changes through time and from culture to culture. It wasn’t that long ago that you made extra food on Sunday’s because you didn’t know if there might be visitors at your table to share the meal with you after church. But slowly that has changed to sharing a meal in a restaurant. Today it seems rare for anyone not related to us to end up in our homes at meal time. Hospitality is still offered but in a very different way.

I believe that we are supposed to struggle with the story of Jael and Sisera. And every time I read the story, I wonder what the moral is that I am supposed to take away from the story. The story is a cautionary tale, but about what I am not always sure.

Here is the story. Sisera is a god-like figure who wins every battle he fights. One story asserts that on a certain day he took a bath in a neighboring river and caught enough fish in his beard to feed his army. Sisera is a legendary figure. People around him fall over each other to make their alliances with him. But when he fights against Israel and their God, his army is destroyed. It is the first loss for a mighty man. Sisera flees from the battle on foot. And he runs to a place where he believes that he will be safe. The Kenites have made a treaty with him, and he has honored that treaty.

So he shows up at the home of Heber and Jael. The Kenites are a nomadic tribe who live in tents, and it was the custom at the time for a husband and wife maintained different tents. Sisera feels safe because he has a treaty with Heber. But he does not hide in Heber’s tent. His enemy might search there for him. But they are unlikely to explore his wife, Jael’s, tent.

Sisera is tired, but according to Jewish tradition, Jael welcomes him into her tent and makes love with him seven times to ensure that he is really tired. And then she kills him, driving a stake through his temple into the ground. The stake is a weapon of convenience. It would have been Jael’s job to put up the tents, and so driving stakes was a task at which she would have had much practice.

But here is the problem. The story is a huge violation of hospitality. First, a treaty exists between Sisera and Heber. Second, hospitality has been offered and accepted in many ways. In the biblical story, it is offered in a place to stay and the consumption of drink. In the extra-biblical story, hospitality is found in the sexual interaction between Sisera and Jael. Or maybe Sisera breaks hospitality by accepting Jael’s advances. Either way, the story is messed up.

Some would argue that God is okay with the story because it advances his purposes. But that doesn’t sound like the God of the Bible. With God, the end never justifies the means. So what do we do with the story?

I don’t think it is right to condone the actions of Jael, even though the death of Sisera was good and the cause of God is advanced. I believe that God mourns even right results when they are gained by immoral actions. And hospitality is important to God and should be important to us. The moral might be about the loss of power and the way that people treat us, but that does not make it right. At best the story of Jael and Sisera is simply a description of what happened. And while Jewish texts laud Jael for her actions, and absolve her of guilt regarding her sex with Sisera, I am not sure that such a resolution to the story pleases God. Everything worked out, but maybe it could have been accomplished differently. And as Christians, we should always strive to uphold hospitality and achieve our God-given goals in a way that brings praise to him.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Judges 5